Whitmire explained how in a Crime Stoppers meeting earlier this year, 30 area agencies crafted a plan for local collaboration when help is needed. The response by 100 officers is somewhat the expansion of that model at the state level.
In talks between the City of Houston, Texas Acting Gov. Dan Patrick, and the director of the Emergency Center for the State of Texas, the discussion turned to how communities share personnel from public works, fire, and EMS following storms and disasters. So, they asked, “Why wouldn’t your model work statewide?” The plan up until this week had not tapped law enforcement resources.
Satterwhite explained how those other services are coordinated through the Texas Department of Emergency Management, and the state covers the cost of additional personnel responding to help a city in a disaster zone. From those meetings earlier this week, now the state’s covering the costs has been extended to cover law enforcement assistance.
With that, the call went out for agencies to send officers to Houston.
Hurricane Beryl made landfall along the Texas coast early Monday, and the Houston Police Department has been at full mobilization since Tuesday.